Man gets death for rape, murder of minor in Odisha

A court in Odisha Monday awarded death sentence to a man convicted earlier for raping and murdering a minor, a lawyer said.

B.P. Routray, district and sessions judge of district headquarters of Sambalpur, about 315 km from here, sentenced to death Pradip Dalai (28) for abduction, rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in the same town Sep 2.

The judge had found Dalai guilty Oct 1, however, the judgment came Monday.

"Today he (the judge) awarded death sentence to the guilty," public prosecutor Artatran Mishra told IANS.

He added that justice was delivered within 35 days of the occurrence of crime.

"This is probably for the first time that justice has been delivered by a court so swiftly in this region, Mishra said.

The man was arrested Sep 3, a day after he committed the crime, and police brought charges against him within a week of the crime.